In the German language, poltergeist
literally means "noisy ghost." Indeed, poltergeist experiences are
often noisy --- although the characteristic physical disturbances are no longer
thought to be the work of "ghosts." Rather, current (since the 1950s)
studies indicate that a living person, the poltergeist agent, who is typically
involved simultaneously in another stress-inducing situation, causes the
poltergeist situation.

RSPK:The Poltergeist Mechanism: During
a poltergeist experience, the agent, in an attempt to relieve emotional stress,
unknowingly causes the physical disturbances using mental forces. The mental
mechanism that allows the poltergeist agent to unconsciously cause these
physical disturbances is called psychokinesis. Psychokinesis, PK, more commonly
known as "mind over matter," is the human ability to mentally affect
the physical environment. Because the psychokinetic activity of the poltergeist
agent is recurrent and spontaneous, this form of psychokinesis is termed RSPK
or recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis. Most agents are unaware that they are
causing the physical disturbances, and even those with vague awareness usually
have no conscious control over how and when the disturbances will occur.

The Poltergeist Experience: In poltergeist
cases, typical reported disturbances include strange noises and knockings, and
objects moving about as if under their own power. Objects have been reported to
fly about in bizarre trajectories, to crash to the floor and break, to break or
shatter in place, and to disappear and reappear, sometimes in different
locations. Beds are sometimes reported to shake and furniture to rearrange
itself. In more rare cases, small, innocuous fires have started, water droplets
or bursts have fallen from nowhere, stones have pelted homes, and vague
apparition-like forms have been seen. Whatever the nature of the physical
disturbances, poltergeist phenomena can inevitably be linked to an
"agent."

The Poltergeist Agent: Though the agent can
usually be narrowed down to one person, in some cases the agent appears to
consist of two or more people who co-create a psychological dynamic that causes
one or more of the people to mentally "set off" the physical
disturbances. Studies and investigations show that agents are typically
experiencing repressed or unresolved emotional stress. Adolescence is commonly
a stressful life period (psychologically and physically) and not surprisingly,
the majority of reported poltergeist cases involve adolescent agents (the age
range is from 12 or 13 to early 20s). However, people of all age groups are
potential poltergeist agents (although there has been a noticeable lack of
agents under 10 or 11). Studies have also shown that people with epilepsy or epileptic-like
activity in the brain are sometimes associated with poltergeist activity. This
does not mean that everyone under stress or with epilepsy will be a poltergeist
agent. In fact, the phenomenon is very uncommon, even though minor PK events
may occur throughout someone's lifetime. Even in severe cases of repressed
stress or epilepsy, poltergeist activity rarely occurs.

Patterns and Metaphors of Poltergeist
Activity:With
the exception of rare lengthy cases, poltergeist phenomena generally last from
two to six weeks (short term 1 week, long term about 18 months). Cases are
nearly always reported in homes, offices or workplaces – wherever a dynamic of
human interaction takes place. Poltergeist activity, with its connection to
unresolved stress, appears to be a rare form of stress relief. Instead of the
stress releasing itself in "normal" ways, the agent unconsciously
"blows off steam" with the PK activity. Patterns found in the
disturbances are generally symbolic and can give clues as to the identity of
the agent and the nature of
the unresolved stress. Often object and area focused activity occur whereby the
disturbances tend to stay with certain forms of objects or in certain locations
in the physical environment. The disturbances often appear as metaphors to the
causes of stress. For example, sexual tension may be released through causing
the bed to shake. Anger towards a certain person may be released by the agent
causing items belonging to the target person to break. The rare outbreak of
small fires may be associated with a general release of anger, whereas water is
more often associated with grief (as in tears not being physically shed). More
unusual cases involving guilt have resulted in the agent actually giving
him/herself a psychokinetic "self-beating" displayed by the
spontaneous manifestation of bruises or other marks of physical punishment.
Other very rare poltergeist cases have involved sightings of apparition-like
forms. These are not thought to be true apparitions (or ghosts – a consciousness
operating outside of or after the death of his or her physical body). Rather,
they are thought to be unconscious projections from the mind of the agent that
are "picked up" telepathically by people associated with the agent
(and of course, by the agent as well). These apparitional forms are often not
human in appearance (in contrast to ghosts), and may even look like an
archetypal "monster." As frightening as they may appear, these mental
projections are harmless and are simply a reflection of the agent's inner
psychological "monsters or demons." As with the physical activity,
they are often a metaphor for the mental and emotional stress the agent is
experiencing. More subtle forms of poltergeist activity involve micro-effects
whereby the agent mentally, though unconsciously, affects the functioning of
technology (these are effects that occur throughout our lives). It is now known
that technology such as watches, computers, telephones, photocopiers, etc. are
apparently susceptible to PK. Similar to the large scale poltergeist effects,
these micro-effects appear to be a form of stress-relief or a reflection of the
mood of the agent, and the type of effect is often a clue as to the nature of
the stress.

Practical Problem Solving: Since poltergeist
cases have psychological stress and emotional dynamics at their core,
investigations involve detailed observation of the human interaction present in
such cases. All family members or co-workers are interviewed separately and en
masse in order to assess the nature of the disturbances and the emotional
interplay. Many personal questions are asked, and in some cases, medical
information may be requested. Patterns in the disturbances are noted and
participants may be asked to re-enact scenes when the disturbances occurred.
Because the investigation may alter the emotional dynamics, leading to
difficulty in finding the agent, on some case the investigator(s) may request
an extended stay on the premises in hopes that the dynamics return to their
usual state. Throughout the study, "normal" disturbances are
separated from those that may be "paranormal." Often the participants
believe the disturbances to be the result of a ghost or outside entity. Because
stressful emotional dynamics are at the core of such cases, this "ghost"
is used as a scapegoat for the occurrences and even for the events or issues
that are causing the stress in the first place. In addition, people are often
more sensitive to anything out of the ordinary in the environment during such
situations. In many cases, participants may misinterpret overlooked physical
occurrences with normal, though not obvious, normal explanations. Finally,
because there is often a ghostly scapegoat to blame, there may be a mixture of
real RSPK events with intentionally caused disturbances surreptitiously carried
out by the agent and/or other participants. A lot can be done in the name of
stress relief when there's a ghost present to take the blame. In cases such as
this, the intentional disturbances are not generally an attempt to dupe the
investigator, but are rather directed at other members of the family or group
as a more "normal" form of stress relief. Such non-malicious fraud
can make a poltergeist investigation very challenging. At worst, such
"mixed" cases may be dismissed as normal when paranormal elements are
actually present. The stress inherent in a poltergeist case, as well as the
stress caused by one, does make counseling very important. Not only the agent,
but all participants can benefit from individual or group counseling.
Poltergeist activity tends to stop when the stress is identified, addressed or
released, or when the stressful situation itself is identified, altered or
ended. Poltergeist activity also tends to stop when the agent realizes he or
she is responsible for the phenomena (and especially if the agent accepts
responsibility for it). One the activity has ceased, follow-up therapeutic work
may be crucial in order to help resolve the underlying causes of the
poltergeist outbreak. Finally, for the poltergeist agent, there always exists
the potential for learning to focus and apply this psychokinetic ability in
positive ways.